Vehicle tracking and management company CalAmp Corp. (Nasdaq: CAMP) has been suffering from the global semiconductor shortage with plenty of other industries, but sees the situation getting back to normal by early 2022, Chief Executive Jeff Gardner said.
Gardner spoke to the Business Journal on July 22 as he introduced the telematics company’s new senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, Richard Scott, and as CalAmp continues the rollout of its iOn Suite, a software as a service to monitor, protect and manage mobile workers, vehicles, mobile assets, tools and cargo.
“We’re seeing a recovery, certainly,” Gardner said of overall business conditions. “I think the supply chain issues will get better as we get later in the year.”
He says he’s spending a lot of time on the telephone with other company chief executives to get “prioritized on the list.”
“Our backlog of orders is at the highest level that it’s ever been,” he said. “We definitely have products that we could have sold had we had sub-components.”
Stock on Rise
The semiconductor issues come amid an upturn in CalAmp’s stock. Shares in CalAmp have risen more than 50% in the past 12 months, giving the company a market value in the $430 million range.
Gardner said the company’s revenue and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in the three-month period ended May 31 beat consensus estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter.
“We would have done even better had it not been for the worldwide semiconductor shortage that we’re suffering through along with many other industries,” he said.
“I think it’s going to get a little better each quarter as we progress through the year but back to normal, I think, by early 2022.”
The CEO said last quarter’s revenue for software and subscription services was 44% of consolidated revenue, the highest it has ever been. The company continues to transition its focus to more software from its traditional hardware base.
CalAmp said in February it was remaking its tools for keeping track of trucks, drivers and other assets. The revamped iOn Suite system lets businesses monitor their entire mobile workforce—from vehicles, to trucks, to equipment, to drivers—all from a single screen.
CalAmp counts Caterpillar as its largest customer, according to Gardner.
New GC
Gardner said at least 25% of the company’s workforce was expected to be back in the office as of the end of last month. CalAmp’s based in the Spectrum area of Irvine.
One key addition to the office is Scott, CalAmp’s new senior VP, general counsel and secretary, who has over 25 years of experience in contracts, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions in various areas. Most recently, he served as vice president and deputy general counsel at Verra Mobility Corp. (Nasdaq: VRRM) in Mesa, Ariz. He replaces Steve Moran at CalAmp.
“I was looking for someone who was hungry, humble and smart,” CEO Gardner said. “I think Richard’s going to be fabulous here.”
Scott said his interviews with CalAmp also included the company’s “desire to look beyond the shores of the U.S. in terms of business expansion,” and cited his international experience. CalAmp already is expanding further in Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region known as EMEA in addition to the U.S., according to a regulatory filing.
“My wife and I have already relocated to Orange County,” Scott said. “We’re super-excited to be living in the area.”
